Tag Archive for: couples

Happy Valentine’s Day!

The two of us are spending the whole day together, just like we do everyday – because we’re one of a growing number of couples in business.

If you’re one of us, you’ll probably relate to this – the first thing most people ask is:

“How do you do that?”

And then they add:

“My spouse and I could never do that.”

Listen to this post! Click a player to hear George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show Podcast.

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BIGG success is life on your own terms. We’ve always loved spending as much time together as possible. Being a couple in business lets us max it out.

We get so excited when we meet other couples in business. And we’ve been so fortunate to meet some dynamic duos.

Like Danno Wolkoff and Laura Orkin. Their company, Envision Radio Networks, is the syndicator for our radio show, BIGG Success in a Minute.

We’d like to congratulate them for hitting a milestone this year – their business is ten years old. And we love how they’re celebrating it – they recently made a donation to Danno’s college radio station, WJPZ-FM in Syracuse. The facility is now called the Envision Radio Networks Broadcast Center.

It just goes to show you what couples in business can accomplish. So today, we thought we’d share five tips on how couples in business can mix business with pleasure.

These are mostly a reminder for ourselves. We hope they resonate with you too.

Be whole(istic) 

We spelled it wrong for a reason. We want to emphasize to keep your WHOLE life in mind with everything you do.

Your personal and professional worlds are more interdependent than they are for most people. That’s a good thing…as long as you consciously factor it in as you make plans and decisions.

You also need to keep your whole person in mind. It’s easy to lose yourself when you’re just half of a team.

This doesn’t need to be the case. In fact, quite the opposite.

You should build each other up for your mutual benefit. Couples in business can do this better than any other partners could.

Live with purpose on purpose  

It’s easy to just jump right in with both feet. It’s easy to just focus on what’s urgent. It’s easy to get stuck in the day-to-day.

But couples in business need to live intentionally.

Know your underlying purpose. What’s your WHY?

It should drive every decision – business and personal. Because you will feel the effects more than most people, given your choice to live and work together.

So live with purpose, on purpose.

Bump heads regularly  

We hasten to say that we’re not being literal here.

And no head butting, just head bumping!

By that we mean, check in with each other frequently. We tend to do this over the course of the day by taking quick breaks together.

In just a few minutes, we can catch each other up. We can also help each other with any challenges that have arisen.

It’s also so important to take time out to discuss the BIGG picture. We haven’t always been as good at this as we should. We talk a lot about the day-to-day. We know what we’re trying to accomplish. But we have to force ourselves to slow down and review our plans and progress.

There’s one more piece to bumping heads. You both need to be able to speak freely AND disagree. Disagreement is so important. And boy, do we have our disagreements. They’re good for both our business and our relationship.

If you both agree all the time, you’re probably missing opportunities at best or taking risks you shouldn’t at worst. So you have to lovingly disagree.

Shut up and down 

Know when to say when. Then shut up. Stop talking about the business.

Schedule time to shut down. Then stop working.

We struggle with this. We both love our work.

But we need couple time. So we try to set times and/or days when business is in the background.

We often go for a drive in the country and walk along a river. We also love mysteries.

For example, we have The Thin Man series DVRed right now. Now you know what we’re doing for Valentine’s Day!

Like a lot of entrepreneurs, we’re not good at following rules. So if one of us gets an epiphany while we’re in down mode, we may mention it. We may write it down.

But it’s important to not let it overtake your time together, no matter how BIGG the idea may be.

Bring outsiders in 

We can’t emphasize this one enough – get a coach. We find our coaches invaluable.

If you can’t afford to do that at this point, find other couples in business to network with.

A great way to do that is something we’re going to announce in just days. The best way to find out about it is to sign up for our newsletter.

So what’s the secret to a lasting relationship? A growing number of couples in business are finding it pays personally and professionally to mix business with pleasure. It leads to BIGG success!

Are you part of the growing number of couples in business?

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00849-021413.mp3

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